The Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee has sued an Irving mediation service seeking to prevent it from practicing law after alleging its nonlawyer staff provided legal advice to hundreds of customers including preparing pleadings for them to use in employment and family law cases.

In an Oct. 20 petition filed in a Dallas state district court, the UPLC is seeking a permanent injunction against Ralph C. Steele, Sheila Younger-Halliman and Mediation Counseling & Travel to prevent them from practicing law. The UPLC is committee appointed by the Texas Supreme Court that is charged with preventing the unauthorized practice of law in the state.

“This is a case about unlicensed individuals who provide legal services to Texas residents pertaining to the preparation and submission of various documents to several agencies and courts related to, inter alia, employment and family law,” the petition alleges. “Defendants are not licensed Texas lawyers nor does their conduct satisfy any known limited right to practice in Texas.”